At the beginning of another year, people will make new resolutions. But should Christians make these New Years commitments? In this lab, John Piper shows that resolutions can be deeply Christian and grace-filled. I love these points that Piper makes about how resolutions are based in God’s grace: A resolve (at least here) is a desire for God to do something in and through us. It is your resolve and your work, but it is done by “faith” (2 Thessalonians 1:11) — that is, in reliance upon God. The result of this kind of resolve and this kind of work

Do you want to read the whole Bible? I always believe that reading the bible every year is the best devotional practice that one can make a habit of.   If the average person reads 200 to 250 words per minute, and if there are about 775,000 words in the Bible, then it would take less than 10 minutes a day to read the whole Bible in a year. (Those who want to bore into the details of how long it takes to read each book of the Bible can visit howlongdoesittaketoreadthebible.com). But a simple resolution to do this is often

Christmas

Nancy Guthrie Wrote a great article entitled “WE DON’T HAVE TO READ THE BOOK OR SEE THE MOVIE TO KNOW HEAVEN IS REAL”  She states: People sometimes say these stories encouraged their faith or the faith of someone they know. But I think they actually diminish biblical faith by elevating claims of a supernatural experience over the substance of the Scriptures….In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Father Abraham says, “If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, (meaning, if they won’t believe what the Bible says) they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31)….

Making disciple-making disciples (or making DMD’s) sounds redundant. Yet, very few are actually doing what Jesus told us to do in Matthew 28:18-20. Instead, the commission to “make disciples” is often interpreted in one of two ways: Some “make disciples” by making converts and then outsourcing their “discipleship” to a church program. Others gather converts together and attempt to “go deeper” but place no emphasis on being a witness to their neighbor. This is the danger of separating evangelism and discipleship. The former is engaged in evangelism, the latter is engaged in what he or she believes to be discipleship. Evangelism without discipleship

Leaving 5 minutes early just might save both your life and your relationships. Pacific Church Network’s Church Multiplication Director Brian Howard writes on his blog, “I drive a lot. I drive my teenage kids to school, drive all four of my kids to various activities, drive to appointments daily, and drive my family to our church gatherings. But we often run out the door at the last minute (or a couple of minutes late) on the way to these activities. I have learned that there are two big problems with running out the door at the last minute:” read the story

 This looks like a great read on the subject of time management and productivity from a Christian Perspective

I would venture to say that Getting Things Done (affectionately abbreviated as GTD) is easily the most influential and most acclaimed personal productivity book of the last decade. The GTD system outlined by Allen sparked an unprecedented and almost fanatical following, leading to hundreds of fan-driven websites, forums, and blogs (who reads blogs on productivity? <wink> ). I can personally attest to the power of the GTD system, as it’s something that I keep trying to incorporate as I manage my time. Review of “Getting Things Done” from a Christian Perspective David Allen is a New Age enthusiast, and this spills over

Here is a great article on the use of commentaries for your personal study, for teaching preparation, or for sermon Preparation.  I am always amazed when people look down on the use of commentaries, as if the Spirit only speaks to them.  God can use commentaries to help grow you closer to Christ when used properly.  Here are some great tips on the use of commentaries in your reading life: How to use Bible Commentaries Some good Commentary lists include: Top commentaries on every book of the bible ( Keith Mathison) Best Commentaries (probably the best resource site for commentaries) The Commentary List (The

The 2 articles include: They do it better than We do The Heart of a Disciple-Making Pastor How would you go about explaining the need for real disciplemaking to members of a church that have never done it before?